Poor villagers place last hope in 'salak'

By Sri Wahyuni

BANJARNEGARA, Central Java (JP): For farmers of Pagedongan, a poor village 10 kilometers south of here, the first rain last month not only brought an end to this year's harsh drought but also hope.

Banjarnegara is among 31 regencies in Indonesia's 15 provinces included in a project of cultivation of economically superior local fruits aimed at boosting the regions' income.

Pagedongan, considered to be one of the regency's least developed villages, has been selected as the pilot project to cultivate its local variety of salak (snake fruit) from the zalacca palm known as Nglumut, along with nine other villages in the regency.

Much hope has been poured into the palm, which depends largely on an adequate water supply. The project is jointly funded by the Japanese Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF) (86 percent) and the state budget (14 percent).

The funds are in the form of seedlings, production tools and equipment, irrigation infrastructure, research sites, technical assistance and marketing.

Banjarnegara is one of three Central Java regencies included in the project. Magelang was also chosen for Nglumut snake fruit cultivation, while Jepara was chosen for the cultivation of durian Petruk.

The Banjarnegara project, like those of other regencies, is a five-year development program consisting of five stages. The first stage involves the development of 20 hectares of field in Pagedongan; the second and third stages, respectively, are to expand the area to 1,000 hectares; while the two final stages will focus on helping farmers market and maintain their production.

Zalacca palms are known for their productivity. The palm can survive for up to 15 years and continue to produce fruit.

Every hectare of land receives 1,000 zalacca palm seedlings. One year later, the farmers are obliged to produce two for each seedling they received from the project.

One of the two seedlings will be for the farmers themselves -- to be planted in their own fields, while the rest is given to other farmers. This is how the other farmers receive their seedlings.

"This way we hope that all of the zalacca production centers in the region will eventually substitute their fruit with the economically superior variety (the Nglumut)," head of Banjarnegara's Agricultural Service Office Soetardji told The Jakarta Post recently.

Banjarnegara -- a regency of 108,000 hectares about 150 kilometers west of the Central Java capital Semarang -- is traditionally known for its local fruit production. Durian and snake fruit are among the most popular fruit it produces.

"We produce 200-300 tons of snake fruit a day. This excludes the produce which is directly sold from the farm to outside buyers," Soetardji said, adding that the zalacca field in the region is the largest in Central Java.

But he said farmers were aware of the less economically viable varieties because of its sour taste, despite its bigger size. One basket of local snake fruit, about 40 kilograms, is usually sold for about Rp 10,000 (US$2.80).

The Nglumut, on the other hand, can fetch between Rp 4,000 and Rp 4,500 per kg, while the Pondoh, a more popular variety, usually sells for between Rp 3,000 and Rp 3,500 per kg.

A one hectare field containing 1,000 Nglumut plants (or half of the field's full capacity of 2,000 plants), can yield about 10 tons of snake fruit a year and reap an estimated Rp 45 million.

"Farmers here have long been aware that Nglumut is superior. But they didn't plant it earlier because the seedlings are expensive," said Soetardji.

Enthusiastic

A single seedling of zalacca Nglumut usually costs the farmers Rp 3,500, whereas the plants of other varieties can be bought free from neighbors' fields.

It's not surprising, therefore, that the farmers -- especially the 57 farmers involved in the Pagedongan pilot project -- are enthusiastic about the program.

"Everyone wanted to join the project so the area had to be expanded," said Basirun, 66, chairman of the Sri Lestari Group of Pagedongan Farmers.

"We had been dreaming for a long time about when we would be able to plant this (zalacca Nglumut). It has come true, thanks to the government," added Basirun who has seven children and 20 grandchildren.

Head of the Pagedongan village Chairul Mutowal is as happy as the farmers. After years of witnessing the exodus of young people from the country to the city in search of a better life, he hopes the project will eventually bring them home.

According to Mutowal, about a quarter of Pagedongan's population of 5,200 people live as migrants in big cities, mostly Jakarta. The number usually increases during the dry season as agricultural production decreases.

Most of the Pagedongan's 1,127 hectares of fields are dependent on rain for irrigation. The recent drought was particularly hard on them.

Sociologist Dian Paramita of Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University said it was probably too much to wish that such a project could make the migrants return home as job opportunities were not the only reason why many villagers sought a better life in the city.

"Unless it is followed by the development of other public facilities in the region, including infrastructure, I'm afraid the villagers will keep migrating to big cities."

But Dian said the project was well designed and also included a marketing assistance program.

"Marketing is the most important factor in such a project.

"But you have to make sure the project won't turn the initially good-motivated mediator (in marketing) into an exploiter as has often happened in the past," she added.

If this happened, Dian said, the project wouldn't benefit local villagers and would only be profitable to traders from outside the region.